Automotive vehicles are increasingly being equipped with powered doors, which generally include a powered actuator, such as an electric motor, for opening and closing a door on the vehicle. For example, some vehicles, such as minivans, employ one or two powered side doors located at the sides of the vehicle. It has also been proposed to equip certain vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and minivans, with a powered lift gate door at the rear of the vehicle. The powered lift gate would employ an electric motor or other powered actuator to forcibly actuate the lift gate between open and closed door positions.
Conventional vehicle powered doors typically have an electric motor that reverses direction only when the powered door comes into forcible contact with an obstacle. However, contact of the powered door with an obstacle may cause discomfort to obstructing persons, damage to the obstructing objects, and/or damage to the powered door itself. It is therefore generally undesirable for a powered door to come into contact with a person or other obstacles when the powered door is actuated in the moving direction.
Accordingly, it is therefore desirable to provide for the detection of an obstacle in close proximity to a powered door in a manner that reduces the likelihood of the powered door contacting the detecting obstacle.